Analysis of It feels a shame to be Alive
Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)
It feels a shame to be Alive—
When Men so brave—are dead—
One envies the Distinguished Dust—
Permitted—such a Head—
The Stone—that tells defending Whom
This Spartan put away
What little of Him we—possessed
In Pawn for Liberty—
The price is great—Sublimely paid—
Do we deserve—a Thing—
That lives—like Dollars—must be piled
Before we may obtain?
Are we that wait—sufficient worth—
That such Enormous Pearl
As life—dissolved be—for Us—
In Battle's—horrid Bowl?
It may be—a Renown to live—
I think the Man who die—
Those unsustained—Saviors—
Present Divinity—
Scheme | ABXB XXXC XXXX XXXX AXXC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Quatrain (20%) |
Metre | 11011101 111111 1100101 010101 01110101 110101 11011101 011100 011111 110101 11110111 011101 11110101 110101 1101111 010101 11100111 110111 1110 100100 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 599 |
Words | 90 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 88 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 18 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 27 sec read
- 364 Views
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"It feels a shame to be Alive" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/11885/it-feels-a-shame-to-be-alive>.
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